When will council tackle problem of noisy rail workersOne evening last week a I had a phone call from the Lib Dems canvassing hard for the forthcoming Guildford by-election caused by the retirement of Dr Blundell.

I was asked if they could rely on my support in the forthcoming by-election. I have never been rung at home by any of the parties in all the 23 years I have lived here. But I am not surprised – the Lib Dems have got complacent in the past few years and following the last election, are now obviously panicking.

I initially assured the caller they could indeed rely on my vote. However, following the hell suffered by the residents of my road in the past few days, I am withdrawing that vote. And my vote will remain withdrawn until I see a council with enough guts to tackle the misery of the Network Rail sidings at the bottom of Rupert Road.

We have been kept awake every night, all night, since Friday, as they have launched the railway equivalent of Armageddon down there.

They use the sidings and car park to load up equipment before going down the line to wherever the maintenance site is that night.

It started on Friday with the arrival of several giant cranes, a flatbed lorry and a ton of equipment.

During the night these cranes started – with deafening revving, crashing, clanking, grinding, spotlights swivelling wildly and at least 20 men bellowing, laughing and talking loudly down mobile phones.

It was horrific and still going on at 4.30am. My neighbour and I were down at the fence watching in astonishment at 4.30am. I shone a torch on them until they went and got the foreman.

This horror has then been repeated every night since.

We have had no advance notification of this work – something Network Rail is supposed to do every time there is this sort of work planned.

Worse, they didn’t even bother to inform the council’s environmental health department of the work.

But then why I am I surprised. A more ignorant, lackadaisical, cavalier set-up than Network Rail would be hard to find. They couldn’t care less for the residents here. Consequently, we have had no chance of discussing the work in advance, or how they might be mitigating the noise – if at all.

Almost as shameful is the pathetic inability of the council to move one single muscle to help us.

My neighbour’s middle-of-the-night call to the out-of-hours environmental health line fell on deaf ears. They wouldn’t even come out and have a look. They know the railway companies hide behind the ancient Railways Act which allows them carte blanche to do what they like down on the line, and they are too cowardly to take them on.

While there is nothing the council can do legally, there is nothing to stop them coming out and breathing down some necks and banging some heads together. For a start, the Railways Act does not cover shouting, bellowing and screeching down a mobile phone in the middle of the night. So until someone is prepared to grasp the nettle here, I shall not be voting.

JANE ADAMSRupert Road,Guildford.

Beware, live exports have resumedThe trade in live exports, which has been dormant for the last nine months, has resumed again through the Port of Dover.

Investigations into live animal transport on the continent have revealed consistent breaking of the rules on journey times, frequent failure to provide water as required and often slaughter performed illegally, without stunning at journey’s end.

During transportation, large numbers of animals are crammed into overcrowded vehicles and often receive no proper food, water or rest during their long journeys. These animals can become increasingly exhausted, dehydrated and stressed, and many are trampled to death by their companions.

It is widely accepted that animals should be slaughtered as near as possible to the farm of rearing. I believe there is no good reason to transport animals on long journeys simply for further fattening.

Long-distance transport not only inflicts serious stress and horrendous suffering on animals, but also risks spreading infectious diseases such as foot-and-mouth and classical swine fever over long distances.

If you are concerned with the suffering of these farm animals, further information can be found on Compassion in World Farming’s (CIWF) website www.ciwf.org.uk

CIWF totally condemns the live export trade and advocates a trade in meat to avoid unnecessary suffering.

For further information about this please contact Compassion in World Farming, telephone 01730 264208 or e-mail compassion@ciwf.co.uk.

James R. More-Molyneux Loseley Park,Guildford.

Explanation of hospital’s financial positionI would like to respond to Mr Ken Gait’s letter in last Friday’s Surrey Advertiser and to put right his misunderstanding of the Royal Surrey’s financial position.

For a number of years, and again this year, the hospital has had a “block” contract with Guildford & Waverley PCT. This means that the PCT pays the hospital a fixed sum of money based on the previous year’s activity, regardless of how many patients it treats.

The number of patients we have treated has increased year on year and we have seen around a 10% increase in the number of emergency admissions last year and again this year.

Last year, the PCT agreed to fund the increase in emergency work, albeit at a reduced rate. It is the fact that the hospital was actually paid for the work it carried out that enabled us to balance the books. It is not due to any increased costs imposed on the PCT. In fact, measured against the national average for the cost of medical procedures, the Royal Surrey is lower than the national average. The PCT is, therefore, getting good value for its money.

The PCT is not the only NHS organisation facing financial difficulties. The trust has reported a deficit of £4m for the first half of the year. We have been directed to reduce capacity to ensure no worsening of our financial position. The fact of the matter is that the demand on NHS services throughout Surrey and Sussex exceeds the amount of funding that is available and I am afraid that some difficult decisions have to be taken by both the PCT and the hospital.